


Bright Shadows

by BlueStarOfTheSouth



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: And Don't Overcrowd Berk, And it's a bit annoying to write, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Don’t copy to another site, Dragons have their own language, For a Friend, Fuck Grimmel, Grimmel Dies to a Yeeted Axe, Hiccup's Smart, M/M, Multi, Some Dragons Live On Other Islands, Soul Bond, Stoic's alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueStarOfTheSouth/pseuds/BlueStarOfTheSouth
Summary: Hiccup is not impressed with the latest moron that thinks he can come into his territory and tell him how dragons are monsters.But that Light Fury? Now she seems impressive.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Light Fury, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Light Fury/Toothless, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Toothless, Light Fury/Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 133





	Bright Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> Leor, I blame you.
> 
> I have no idea what this fic even is, just have at it.

Toothless was... less than happy with his mate.

Not that Hiccup was doing anything _wrong_ per say, just that it was clear he was smitten with the latest pretty thing to cross his path.

This wasn't exactly new, he was well acquainted with the fact that his mate absolutely _adored_ dragons of all sorts. He'd spend hours at a time blissfully rambling about whatever new sort they'd encountered. How strong they were, how fast they were, how absolutely _fantastic_ they were.

But it always passed, and he always returned to Toothless' side.

That didn't mean there wasn't always a small jab of jealousy. As well as exasperation, seeing as most of the dragons Hiccup was gushing about were _actively trying to kill them!_

“ _Hiccup-Mate?”_ He ventured, breaking into the ever present rambling.

“Hmm? What's wrong bud?” Hiccup asked, instantly breaking off his speech. Toothless _was_ about to bring up his question, but there was something important first.

“ _Hiccup-Mate talks human-speech.”_ He reprimanded, glaring slightly. He'd admit that he usually wouldn't care, Hiccup had long since mastered the dragon's tongue, but he wasn't in a very good mood right now.

Hiccup, in complete defiance of the reprimand, instead arched up, returned the dragon's glare, and bore his teeth in a snarl.

“ _Toothless-Mate talks dragon-speech.”_ He growled in return, rising up on his feet to look down on Toothless. The physical acts, combined with countless tiny things, forced Toothless to reign in his emotions.

“ _Sorry Hiccup-Mate.”_ Toothless said, shrinking back slightly.

It was, some would think, an odd relationship. That such a small, weak (by dragon standards) human would be able to stand equal to a Night Fury (as the humans called his kind). But they both had strong personalities, neither willing to simply roll over and take it if the other was in a bad mood.

That Hiccup had reacted as he did, reminding Toothless that they were equals, was exactly one of the reasons that Toothless loved him.

“ _What's wrong Toothless-Mate?”_ Hiccup, tone now considerably warmer with his warning delivered, questioned.

“ _Hiccup-Mate only talking about new favourite dragon.”_ He grumbled, upset. Sure, he was used to Hiccup going on about whatever new dragon he'd met, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt to have to listen to it every time.

“ _Toothless-Mate is Soul-Bonded.”_ Hiccup reminded him, leaning down to press his lips against Toothless' nose. _“Other dragons wonderful, but Toothless-Mate is best.”_

That did make him feel a better, hearing Hiccup banish his fears like that. He hated feeling jealous, as he knew that Hiccup would never leave him, but dragons were nothing if not possessive creatures, selfishly hoarding that which was theirs.

* * *

The plan had worked out nicely in Hiccup's opinion. Even when it went bad it turned out in their favour.

The latest threat to the peace that Hiccup had worked so hard for was a man by the name of Grimmel. And Hiccup had to admit: he was not impressed. The man spoke of how dragons were monsters, how humans could never coexist with them in peace.

Hiccup had heard it a thousand times before, and it wasn't any more interesting coming from this guy.

Grimmel also broke into his house, so... that didn't do the guy any favours.

“You know, a few years ago this would have gone... so differently.” Hiccup muttered. And it was true, just two years ago he'd have tried to negotiate with Grimmel, would have tried to make the man understand.

“Oh, and what changed?” The intruder mocked.

“I killed Drago Bludfist.” Hiccup informed him, looking at Grimmel in the eye. It had taken time to accept, to be able to say it aloud. And even longer to be able to look into the eyes of someone as he did so and not flinch. But he was Chief of Berk, he couldn't let himself feel bad for a man that had nearly destroyed his home.

He was rewarded for his boast, Grimmel looked notably worried. As he should. Drago was a powerful figure, his legend had stretched far beyond the archipelago that Hiccup called home. That Hiccup could claim responsibility for the death of the monster, even if it had been a group effort, granted him a bit of a legend of his own. One that he was more than happy to use against Grimmel.

“... I think I should leave now...” Grimmel proposed, making his way to the door, crossbow ever aimed at Hiccup. The Chief of Berk wasn't worried, they had planned for this. Why else would he greet the man alone, unarmed?

“If you were going to leave with those dragons on the roof, I wouldn't bother.” He called when Grimmel crossed the threshold. The killer stopped, turning back with confusion on his face.

“What...”

“Quadruped, judging by the sounds.” Hiccup commented. Not the least bit worried. “Medium size I'd say. Weight centred... low. So probably some kind of tail weapon, a stinger?” Small flinch, tightening of the eyes, yes to the stinger. “Poison, at a guess. You seem like the kind to enjoy poison. You're not from around here, judging by your accent at least, and I imagine you'd like to keep a level of consistency, so you didn't get _new_ dragons...”

“Deathgrippers?” He guessed, smiling at the glare he got in return. Wow, Grimmel was not happy about that. Fun over Hiccup matched the glare with one of his own.

“There's an entire village out there Grimmel.” He informed him. “Waiting for my word. Your dragons will be cared for, we'll try and fix whatever you did to them. And you'll go to a prison cell until we're finished with you.”

They'd find his base, the Deathgrippers would lead them there if nothing else. And hopefully the people of Berk could fix whatever this idiot had broken during his brief stay in their archipelago.

With a loud _twang_ Grimmel fired at him, taking off in a dead sprint while he was distracted. Hiccup, using skill born from hanging around moody dragons for six years, easily dodged the projectile. That done he walked out of his house and stood in front of the door, easily picking up Grimmel's retreating in the darkness.

“Ground the dragons.” He called out, knowing that the waiting forces would fall upon Grimmel's backup/escape plan. This was _Berk_. The island that had never been conquered, not by dragons, not by Vikings, not by Outcasts, not even by Drago.

No one came to this island seeking to do battle with the natives without paying in blood for it.

Grimmel's dragons, which Hiccup was happy to see he correctly identified as Deathgrippers, were soon brought down to the ground by the waiting riders. They were a bit roughed up, a few new bruises, but they'd recover in time.

“So... how'd it go?” A voice to his side asked, stepping out from the side of the house.

“Not bad, not bad at all. Roof's a bit banged up, but it should be an easy fix.” He confessed, eyes trained on the fleeing Grimmel. Of course the roof was damaged, they'd just pulled six big dragons off the thing.

“Not my house anymore, so that's your problem.” Hiccup had to laugh at that, because sometimes it was hard to think that the Chief's House was _his_ house. But, as his dad had said when he woke from his coma, Hiccup was ready to bear the burden of leadership. And that meant living in Chief's House. “Do you need him alive?”

“No.” It was... an odd thing to say. To willingly sentence someone to death. But he'd come a long way since he'd taken the mantle of leadership. He wasn't sure if he liked how far he'd come, wasn't sure if he liked who he appeared to be now. But Grimmel was a threat. And Vikings and dragons both _destroyed_ threats. “If you would.”

“Aye Chief.” With that Stoic the Vast, retired Chief of Berk, gripped his axe, aimed at the man who was now turning for the forest, no doubt to try and lose them in it. It was a long shot, easily half the village, and Grimmel kept ducking out from between houses.

It didn't matter one bit.

The axe, thrown from the doorstep of the Chief's House, fell upon Grimmel with all the wrath of Mjölnir. He did not survive the experience.

That done Hiccup turned his attention to the downed Deathgrippers. His night had barely begun.

* * *

They'd found Grimmel's base, and defeated the warlords that had sent him after them without much hassle.

After that it was a simply matter of freeing the dragons. Luckily the people of Berk were quite skilled at handling temperamental dragons, six years of practice went a long way, so Hiccup didn't have to do anything but generally oversee the others and keep an eye on things.

The Light Fury, as they'd named the shining white dragon, wasn't there.

Of course she wasn't, why would she be? Grimmel had turned her loose, used her as bait. So of course she wasn't in a cage somewhere. They'd have to keep looking, hope they find her.

The newly liberated dragons were taken to a nearby island, one of the ones that they used as a sort of halfway home for them. Berk was crowded enough as it was, never mind adding a few dozen _new_ dragons on top of all that. Not to mention mating season was only a few months away, so they'd soon be swamped in baby dragons.

The next few days were... confusing. Toothless was making trips into the woods, and had requested that Hiccup not join him. Apparently he was working on something, a gift he called it. Hiccup was content to let him go out, be secretive, as long as the dragon made sure to check in every two days.

He was Toothless' mate, not his keeper.

He got lonely of course, and had thrown himself into preparations for the future. Assigning a rotating guard to the various islands, working on writing the new Book of Dragons (fifth entry in the series), the fishermen needed to be coordinated with so they didn't run one area dry, trade routes had to be reviewed, and the biweekly village meeting was coming up, so he had to prepare for _that_.

He missed the days when he could just take off and fly whenever he wanted. Now he had to find his dad or Astrid, tell them he was going out or a few hours, and pray to the gods that the twins didn't burn down the village again.

He was just going over the logistics for the new den on one of the other islands, the one that the recently rescued dragons were on, when Toothless returned from his most recent trip.

“ _Hiccup-Mate? Toothless has a gift, come see!”_ The exited dragon bid him, running up to him. When Hiccup was apparently not as fast as his mate wanted him to be he was grabbed be the arm, the entire thing up to the elbow disappearing into Toothless' mouth, and was dragged from their home.

“Too-” Rock. “Toothle-” Root. “Tooth-” Branch. “TOOTHLESS!” Finally the dragon stopped, releasing Hiccup's arm. Before Hiccup could say anything the Night Fury got behind him and pushed him forward, gesturing towards a nearby clearing when Hiccup tried to look behind him.

When Hiccup moved into the clearing, to see just what it was that his mate had gifted him, he was surprised with the sight he was met with.

“ _Hello.”_ He grinned, moving slowly towards the awaiting Light Fury. She was gorgeous. All sleek edges and stunning curves. A sky fighter, clearly. Built in much the same way that Toothless himself was: accuracy and speed.

“ _Hello Hiccup-Alpha.”_ She, and that was clearly a female voice, returned. She bowed to him, the way he'd come to expect since he'd taken the role of chief.

“ _Does Wild Dragon have a name?”_ He asked, only a few feet away now. She made no move to block him, so that was good.

“ _Snow Bolt.”_ She replied, and Hiccup had to take a moment to translate that from dragon-speech to human-speech, as well as work out a few other things that the name gave him. The dragon tongue was quite complex, and it had taken him the better part of a year to learn even the basics. He'd made great strides once he really got started, but even after that the nuances had left his head spinning.

“ _Would Snow Bolt-Wild Dragon like to join Berk-Clan?”_ He asked, now easily within range to reach out and touch her.

“ _If Hiccup-Alpha and Toothless-Alpha desire.”_ A quick look back, almost pointless considering it was Toothless that brought him here, and Hiccup got the nod from his mate.

“ _Welcome, Snow Bolt-Clan Mate, to Berk-Clan.”_ The words were official, a proper welcoming into the Clan.

* * *

The next few weeks were... odd, for Hiccup.

Besides his various duties that came with his role as Chief of Berk, of which there were _many_ , Toothless seemed to find any reason to drag him and Snow Bolt off together. Sometimes it was flying, sometimes it was relaxing in the cove, sometimes it was simply following Hiccup as he went about his day.

It was weird.

Finally, three weeks after the newest addition to the Clan, he awoke to find two clearly annoyed dragons at the foot of his bed. Well, one annoyed dragon and one that looked like someone had drug her here by the tail.

This should be good.

“ _Hiccup-Mate.”_ Toothless greeted, sounding just as annoyed as he looked.

“What did I do this time?” Hiccup asked in return, deciding to just get this all out of the way.

“ _Hiccup-Mate is blind to Snow Bolt-Clan Mate's feelings.”_ Was the Night Fury's blunt analysis.

What?

“What?”

“ _Snow Bolt-Clan Mate wants to be Hiccup-Mate's Soul-Bonded.”_ But...

“ _Toothless-Mate is Soul-Bonded.”_ Hiccup insisted. _“Not Snow Bolt-Clan Mate.”_

“ _Three way Soul-Bond.”_ Snow Bolt herself meekly chipped in. _“Soul-Bonded to Hiccup-Alpha and Toothless-Alpha.”_

Okay. Okay, not impossible. Not even unlikely. Three way Bonds existed, there were even a fair number of them on Berk. But there was problems with it.

“Okay, if you two really want to try this.” He muttered, looking at the Light Fury. _“Does Snow Bolt-Clan Mate want to go flying?”_

* * *

After that the two officially began courting Snow Bolt, and Hiccup had to admit: he enjoyed his time with her.

She was kind, clever, and quickly conquered the challenges presented to her, of which there was many.

A Bond like he had with Toothless wasn't something that just _happened_ , and it wasn't something you just _did_. It was a Soul-Bond, a connection that literally tied souls together, supposedly forever.

The challenges that Snow Bolt had to pass were quite simple in theory, but quite difficult in execution. As alphas Hiccup and Toothless were the leaders of Berk, and as such Snow Bolt had to earn the blessings of a number of notable figures in the Clan. Mostly the leaders of the various branches of the Clan.

Most gave their blessing after a short conversation, and a good beating proved herself to nearly all the rest. Only the most stubborn denied her, but their opinion mattered little. They were old dragons, ones that clung to the Old Ways, and a such disapproved of a Bond to a human on principle.

They were being phased out for younger dragons anyway. Within the year they'd have no power at all.

Acquiring the blessing of the relevant humans, Hiccup's parents, was actually quite easy. They both had trust in Cloudjumper and Toothless, both who publicly supported Snow Bolt, so they had little reason to deny her.

That meant that there was only one thing left: The Bonding itself. They went to a cave, one hidden away on the far side of the island. They were left alone, no one disturbed a Bonding without a _very_ good reason, but Hiccup knew that there was a guard nearby, so that none cold interrupt.

The two had recruited some other dragons to carve the cave, and it functioned as something as of a private place for Bonded. Hiccup and Toothless had been the first to Bond here, but had not been the last.

When they reached the end the tunnel, already large, expanded into a chamber, one that could have comfortably suited a number of Stormcutters. The Whispering Deaths that had carved this place had done a very good job, and the weeks spent refining it had made it quite homey. There were blankets, pillows, a large fire pit.

It was perfect.

“Right. Last chance to back out.” He offered, knowing it was half to himself. When no one moved he nodded, and begun the Bonding.

It wasn't anything amazing to look at. No runic circles, no shining lights. The magic of dragons, and the power of souls, was much simpler than that.

“ _Snow Bolt-Clan Mate. Precious, most trusted companion. Please, accept this offer, the soul of-”_ The name that followed, earned through a journey of self discovery could only be given here, during a Bonding. It could be _used_ elsewhere, but it cold only be _given_ here. _“For it is the greatest gift that can be given.”_

“ _Hiccup-Alpha. Precious, most trusted companion. Please, accept this offer, the soul of-”_ What followed was one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard, and he could feel the name burying itself deep into his soul. Nothing could take it from him, not time, not magic, not even death could take this name from him.

The Bonding continued, quickly going through the offerings. Toothless joined in, gifting his name to her, and she in turn gave her his. A curious thing, that Hiccup had only known second hand until know, was that in a Bonding such as this, with more than two participants, only the one being given the name could hear it. Hiccup knew her name, was standing less than five feet away, and yet he couldn't hear her say it when it was given to Toothless.

“ _Snow Bolt-Mate, Soul-Bonded.”_ And with those words, words he'd say a thousand times over his life, the Bond was nearly formed.

“ _Hiccup-Mate, Soul-Bonded.”_ And then it was formed, completed forever.

“ _Snow Bolt-Mate, Soul-Bonded.”_

“ _Toothless-Mate, Soul-Bonded.”_

And that was how Hiccup gave his soul a second time.

**Author's Note:**

> As always I'm on Discord if people want to chat. Discord Link: https://discord.gg/Y9kJHGn (I gave up trying to do clever links)
> 
> I'm also in the comments if you want to leave your thoughts.


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